T.R. Pearson's novel, A Short History of a Small Place, takes you by the hand and leads you down winding path through life in a small town. The story is told through the eyes of a child but it is really his father's perspective. Whenever an opinion is given, it is always preceded by "Daddy says..." This is understandable considering that the child is usually discussing events that occurred years before he was alive.
Using his father's stories, the narrator gives us a history of the people in his town and the town itself. Louis Benfield, the narrator, tells the tales in a rambling manner but there is always a sense of cohesion to the different threads of the story. Never does the reader feel lost in the book. Louis will start a story, go off for what could be a chapter or more on something related to the story, and then go back to the original story. Everything is connected and every story is told for a reason.
Louis' history of his family and town give the reader insight into his life but the reader can also identify with Louis as well. Everyone has experienced the small town environment at one time or another. Even if you never lived in a small town, anyone's high school experience could probably be compared to small town life. In the book, whenever something dramatic was happening there always seemed to be a mob handy. And those unlucky enough to have missed the great occurrence usually have it talked about so much to them they forget whether or not they were truly there. High school life is the same exact way. It some mysterious way, if something happened to you Monday night, everyone in school knows by Tuesday morning. Thus, identifying with a Louis and the other characters in the book is quite simple.
However, the best thing about this book is the humor involved. Every turn of the page delivers a new crazy situation for the reader to laugh at. The author has the great ability to make even serious issues comical. He is able to do this by telling it from the perspective of the town. The narrator, Louis, retells the stories his father has told him. These stories are a combination of personal experiences and stories told by other people to Louis' father. Therefore, some of seriousness is taken out of situations.
Reading T.R. Pearson's novel, A Short History of a Small Place, is an experience that cannot be missed.

T.R. Pearson's novel, a Short History of a Small Place, takes the reader by the hand down a winding path through the history of a family and life in a small town. The narrator, Louis Benfield, is a child retelling the stories told to him by his father. The story is told through the eyes of a child but from the perspective of an entire town.
The story rambles along but the reader is never lost. Louis will start a particular story and then sidetrack to another story but he always returns to the first. Also, there is always a reason for him to divert off track. Background information is usually given in the ramblings that add to the original story. If Louis were not to go off on tangents at some points, the story itself would suffer.
These stories are the history of the town but they are never told by the people they happen to. Louis is telling the stories his father told him. However, Louis' father didn't even experience every story he tells his son. The stories are colored with the opinions and observations of an entire town. This gives the reader a little insight into what small town life is like.
However, the more the reader learns about life in a small town, the more obvious it becomes to the reader that everyone at some point in their life has experienced what living in a small town is like. Even if you've never lived in a small town, any high school can be compared to small town life. In the novel, whenever something highly dramatic happens, a mob is conveniently around to witness every aspect of everyone's life. And those who had the unfortunate luck to have missed the event hear about it so often that they have trouble remembering whether they were really there or not. High school life can be the same way at times. If something happens to you on Monday night it is amazing how many people know exactly what happened by Tuesday morning.
What is so great about this book is its use of humor. Never during the highly dramatic points does the reader ever feel like the situation is serious. This goes back to the perspective the novel is told in. Because the novel is told from the perspective of the town, serous situations can be transformed so the reader can see the humor in it. Also, the reader is shown the humor in everyday life as well.
Reading T.R. Pearson's novel, A Short History of a Small Place, is an experience that cannot be missed.

This is a book that I did not ever want to come to the end of. I thoroughly enjoy reading stories told through the eyes of children (To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Sawyer, Catcher In The Rye, to name a few), and A Short History Of A Small Place ranks with the very best of those stories. I admire the author of this book greatly because I think adults are quick to forget how we viewed the world as children, and T. R. Pearson remembers incredibly well and is able to remind/involve his readers and take them back to those times. This is a book that literally makes you laugh out loud and leads you to re-reading certain parts because they were so enjoyable and made you think to yourself "Hey, I remember exactly how that felt!" How wonderful that Pearson could so succinctly put into words feelings and senses that are all too often unexpressable. I truly admire Pearson for his magnificent writing. It's a wondrous story that I will always remember. And I will read it again and again.